Reflective Teaching and/or Learning in the Online Environment -Signe Larson

As I was searching for a topic on in Reflective Teaching and/or Learning in the Online Environment I found an interesting PowerPoint that was done by Robert S. Williams. Robert Williams talks about a class that was similar to this one in that it had to do with intergrading technologies into teaching. He states that reflection is “thinking about something in a powerful way.” He believed that teaching was in the same system as learning. He believed that a good teacher should actually be learning as they teach which i believe to be very true. Also reflection can basically happen anywhere, not just in the classroom. He believes that instead of teaching you should more guides the students learning. He did explain how ever that it really got deep into emotions therefore hurt peoples feelings.

www1.aucegypt.edu/faculty/rwilliams/reflective_teaching.ppt

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Reflective Learning by Stephen Hardy

"Research indicates that critically reflective learning provides students with an opportunity to evaluate concepts learned and apply them to their experiences, contemplating its affect on future learning." states Kelly Burning in an article on here online journal (http://www.itdl.org/Journal/May_05/article03.htm). In this article Kelly deals with how online teaching that is reflective can fuel learning. The elements that need to be involved are student interaction and feedback. Kelly teaches how to apply reflective teaching to a real online environment. Some of the key things to create and apply were to provide general knowledge, usability and functionality, developing a learning community, and to incorporate learning outcomes. One of the challenges she discussed in the article was that in an online environment students lack face to face communication. The solution she provided was, Since students in the online platform work independently through the computer technology medium, the instructor needed to create a way to promote interaction among students similar to group learning in the face-to face course. The instructor also needed to create critical thinking exercises in which course concepts were reinforced but that students could also relate to." This article seemed to be a great introduction to, and a tool for, creating reflective teaching and learning in an online environment.

This article can be found at http://www.itdl.org/Journal/May_05/article03.htm

Reflective Teaching in an Online Environment by Valerie Schulz

In a powerpoint presentation by Robert S. Williams, found at www1.aucegypt.edu/faculty/rwilliams/reflective_teaching.ppt, (which was also the first link on google.com once I typed in Reflective Teaching and/or Learning in the Online Environment) the author describes a course in which he taught, titled Learning and Teaching Online. He described his role as being "the guiding member of the learning community." He found himself being very emotionally involved with his class, and once the class expressed their frustration with him, he began to reflect upon his own course and teaching skills.
As a direct result, he started a reflective teaching journal so that he could reflect on the issues within the class and figure out a way to resolve the issue. The journal did help him to figure out how to resolve the issues within the class, and it enabled him to do so without taking any remarks personally. His powerpoint made his reflective teaching and keeping a journal seem very worthwhile.

Reflective Online Teaching: Erin Fountain

When I used Google to find my article on the Internet, I came across this website: http://www.springerlink.com/content/f235223203721861/fulltext.pdf [This is the PDF file because the original writing on the page was far too little to read!]

In reading this article, I learned that reflective teaching is basically a teachers own way of teaching. The author, Faridah Pawan, sums it up perfectly by saying "reflective teaching involves teachers' self-evaluation of their practical theory by means of which they subject their personal beliefs of teaching and learning as well as their teaching practice to critical analysis."

Pawan states that online distance education, such as the course we are all currently enrolled in, is a great example of reflective teaching. Dr. Simpson requires us to do weekly blog work, and reflective discussions. Through this example, we are learning a little bit more about ourselves and our beliefs about certain subjects. As future teachers, we can do a little reflective learning ourselves, along with reflective teaching. Since I want to be a first grade teacher, instead of having my students write a blog about what they have learned, I might have them do a project that helps pull all the key concepts of a lesson out, just as Dr. Simpson has us do weekly.
I believe that reflective teaching and learning are very beneficial.

Erin Fountain

Kelly Romero - Re-Submission of Video

Re-Submission of Video-Erin Fountain

Reflective Online Learning - Kelly Romero

Online Languages and Reflective Learning
Anne Irving and Cathy Pyle and Mike Thacker
http://www.llas.ac.uk/resources/paper/2282

This article is about “a program of university language courses, delivered as a combination of both online and face-to-face teaching. The authors believe that the approach taken can promote learner reflection.” The approach taken in these language courses is believed to promote reflective learning for several reasons. First, because so much writing is required in online courses, aside from just assignments, learners will have an opportunity to reflect on what they have learned throughout the course. By spending a lot of time writing during the course, the learner will have plenty of opportunities for reflection during the editing process.

Another way that reflection is supported in the course is through the use of online discussion forums which provides for peer and teacher feedback, very similar to the discussion forums in the EME 2040 class. Reading this article has given me a better understanding of yet another purposeful piece of the EME 2040 class. The similarities between the language course discussed in the article and the EME 2040 course has helped me to realize the intent of some of the coursework that I have been doing all semester and how it is designed o promote reflective learning.

Reflective Teaching by Kristianna King

http://profpost.uc.edu/2009/03/reflective-teaching-not-for-the-faint-of-heart/

In this article, it is discussed how painstaking evluating and reflecting on your own personal teaching skills and abilities can be. She goes on to state "...reflecting on the practice of teaching is hard not necessarily pleasant work." which I feel could not be more true. She also goes on to state that in her annual reviews, instead of department heads focusing on areas of improvment (which there will always be), they discuss only the accomplishments for the year. To truly benefit from the process of reflective teaching, you must be open to potential of errors and your ways and be ready to make the necessary changes for improvement of instruction.

The article then goes on to state that in order for one to truly evaluate yourself, you must focus on the student outcomes. She also says that when asking her students to par-take in the reflective process through videotaping, she comes to the realization that how can you ask someone to reflect in such a way when you yourself have never done so.

Article by Ann M. Porter from the University of Cincinnati

Reflective Teaching- Kaitlyn Lara

http://www.suite101.com/blog/khayden5/reflective_teaching

I decided to research reflective teaching. I came across an article called "Reflective Teaching" by Kellie Hayden. The article was advising teachers to take time over the summer and reflect on their lessons. The article gave a great definition on reflection which said, "Reflection means thinking about what worked and what did not work. It is not really about what the students did. It is what you as a teacher did to make the lesson soar or maybe even flop." The article talks about reflecting on the lessons that did not work and figuring out why. Sometimes all it needs is a little change and it will become an awesome lesson, other times one should just get rid of it all together. The article also provide some questions that a teacher can use when reflecting and trying to fix a lesson that may have flopped.

Erin Fountain-ELL Video Re-Do with Audio!

new post-signe larson

Re-Post of Valerie Schulz's Module 12 PS3

The Internet as a Tool for Assisting Students who are English Language Learners- Signe Larson

Kristianna King's ELL site

The site includes many resourses for teachers as well as parents and students to assist in the education process. For teachers, it includes lesson plans, worksheets, and forums and articles. Also, they inlcude sites for teachers that can assist in the learning process.

The site was created in 2002 and specializes in ESL students but can be used in most any educational process. The sites encourages the use of materials that they have located including printouts.

http://www.usingenglish.com/

The Internet as a Tool for Assisting Students who are English Language Learners- Signe Larson

I found an article on how Internet can be a tool for assisting students who are English language learners it is titled The Word and the World: Technology Aids English-Language Learners and is by Maya Payne Smart. This article talks about how technologies are a useful aid for students who need help with English. Wegener-Taganashi states "technology mixes things up, captures students' attention, and engages them in a way traditional classroom instruction doesn't." This article explains that it is critical that we start learning how to use technologies to aid ELL students and start to apply the technologies in the class room. By the year 2015 supposedly 1 in 3 students will be a ELL.

This article also gives recommendations for good programs to aid students who need to learn a different language. Some of them being Read Naturally, MindPlay's My Reading Coach, Rosetta Stone language-learning software, Scientific Learning's Reading Assistant, and Kurzweil Educational Systems's Kurzweil 3000. Some of these programs like Kurzweil 3000 can actually scan a document in any text format and in multiple languages. Or Reading Assistant which is "a one-on-one guided oral-reading support program, has sophisticated speech-recognition software that helps children pronounce words correctly." Also most of the different type of software offer private, individual coaching. Which allows students to work in an environment where they don't have to be embarrassed reading in front of their peers and they can learn in a non-judgmental environment.


http://www.edutopia.org/technology-software-english-language-learners

Stephen Hardy's ELL Video

Erin Fountain: Video Project

Valerie Schulz's Photo Story

Valerie Schulz's Blog and Information on The Internet as a Tool for Assisting Students who are English Language Learners.

The article that I found was on Rethinking Schools Online (http://www.rethinkingschools.org/publication/newteacher/NTBilingual.shtml) and it shared a lot of feedback on ways to help English Language Learners. The main focus of the article is to help teachers find a way in which they can deliver information and be confident that their students that are ELL have absorbed the material. The ways in which the article does this is by listing strategies for improving instruction and strategies for becoming more culturally competent while also providing resources for working with students that are ELL.
What I really liked about the website is that it mainly focused on making the students that are ELL comfortable. One of the strategies that the website lists for improving instruction is to encourage students that are ELL to perform a play in their second language to boost confidence, to encourage them to use English inside of their home when they can, and to not assume that a student that is an ELL is also special needs. I know that if I ever have any students who are ELL, I can use this website to help me teach them and to find other resources on helping them learn.

Kaitlyn Lara's Photo Story: English Language Learners

English Language Learners - Kelly Romero

The Internet as a Tool for Assisting English Language Learners - Kelly Romero

Web Based Tools for ESL/ELL Students
http://www.dist113.org/hphs/departments/library/Web-based%20Tools%20for%20ESL-ELL%20Students.htm#Awareness-Understanding
In conjunction with my last post, this internet search has helped me to find web resources for teaching and supporting English Language Learners. In my previous post I discussed the importance and the usefulness of using the internet and other technology to support diverse learners. The same principles apply when teaching ELL students.
In this post I would like to bring attention to a website that I found that includes resources for ELL students, teachers, librarians and parents. The website http://www.dist113.org/ includes links that teachers can use to participate in forums about teaching ELL students as well different techniques, and activities to use in the classroom, including web resources. The site also includes links to websites that students can use to participate in activities on their own to improve literacy and language skills. This website would be a resource to any teacher who is looking to diversify their instruction for ELL students as well as any parent who would like to assist their child at home.

Erin Fountain: The Internet as a Tool for Assisting Students who are English Language Learners

This topic is very familiar to me. I am currently enrolled in a class called 'Teaching Diverse Populations' right now, and I am learning so much about ELL's or English Language Learners. I have actually observed in several elementary school classrooms that are using a style of teaching designed around helping ELL's in their classroom success.
I found a website: http://www.usingenglish.com/students.html that is extremely helpful in the assistance of English Language Learners. I personally found the website to be very thorough. The website itself offers quizzes, a list of the idioms that we use in our language (I found this to be quite humorous, since I do not know what half of them mean myself!) irregular verb lists, study skills, a guide to writing essays in English and even an open forum to ask questions about anything.
Overall, I think that this website is phenomenal in helping ELL's better understand our language. Speaking English comes easy to most of us, because it is our primary language. But looking at this website made me quickly realize that it's not as easy as it seems. I think that this website can help greatly and offers a wonderful program that is simple to use, and highly efficient and effective.

[Erin Fountain]

Kaitlyn Lara: The Internet as a Tool for Assisting Students who are English Language Learners

http://www.language-exchanges.org/

The website I found is called The Mixxer: A language exchange community for everyone. This website is completely free and for individuals learning or teaching a language. It is actually pretty interesting! You sign up and find a language partner who is native in the language you are learning and they are desiring to learn your native language. Once you are matched up you can use technologies such as Skype to communicate with one another and practice speaking. Skype is the most used, however, you can use whatever you both decide. You can also exchange written work and ask for help with the writing skills. Educators can use this to help their students who are English Language Learners build the skills they need. Foreign Language teachers can also use this technology within their classroom as they teach their students a language. I am currently learning sign language, and I can see how helpful this site can be. Who knows, maybe I will sign up?